CAG report picks holes in DBT payments to dairy farmers

Though all departments were required to use the centralised Core DBT Portal by the end of 2018-19 and for 239 schemes, the state could achieve DBT for only 83 schemes as of April 2021.

The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) payment of Rs 56.08 lakh to 8,464 milk farmers under the Ksheerasiri scheme was pending since January 2020 because of the delay in generation and approval of files. There was no uniformity among various software applications being used resulting in the absence of automated validation checks, which facilitated unauthorised changes in data and consequent over payments and absence of assurance on quality and quantity of milk poured, stated the Comptroller and Auditor General report that was presented on Wednesday.

DBT payments of Rs 5.94 crore were not routed through the Core DBT Portal under the National Food Security Mission and Raithasiri schemes, though both were boarded onto the Core DBT Portal, it said. Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, DBT payments of Rs 91.99 crore were  not processed from 2019-20. Analysis of DBT data also showed crediting of money into bank accounts of non-beneficiaries. Action taken in respect of 21 complaints between February and October 2020 for Rs 12.95 lakh is not on record, it said.

Though all departments were required to use the centralised Core DBT Portal by the end of 2018-19 and for 239 schemes, the state could achieve DBT for only 83 schemes as of April 2021. Benefits of Rs 2,829.02 crore were disbursed outside the Core DBT Portal by 22 departments. Only 83 per cent of the overall transactions done through DBT were successful, while 14 per cent were rejected. The departments implementing the schemes under DBT failed to rectify and reinitiate failed transactions. There were 91,283 transactions awaiting reinitiation despite a lapse of 30 days from the date of failure, it said.

As the timeline for delivery of DBT services across various transaction points was not fixed, there were delays in delivery of services. The pendency of transactions ranged from three to 673 days. Failure to initiate necessary action resulted in 6.67 lakh beneficiaries being deprived of financial benefits amounting to Rs 153.30 crore during the 2018-19 and 2019-20.

A centralised public grievance mechanism was not established at the DBT Cell to aid the beneficiaries to address grievances across various schemes. Evaluation and impact assessment of the Core DBT portal, Ksheerasiri application, National Food Security Mission (DBT component) and Raithasiri scheme were not conducted, it said.